In contravention of the prevailing spirit of the age, I find myself unconvinced by a touch interface on a phone, having tried using both Apple iPhone and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, both of which I've rejected as my main device for different reasons. And, for a change, there's survey data (see the postscript) to back up my crazed(!) opinions - it seems that the majority of the great unwashed also prefer physical buttons to touch...
Rafe's back from the Mobile Word Congress, so this is Steve and Ewan's first chance to quiz him on what he found out. In an extended Insight, we look at the hardware and services from the phone manufacturers that were on show in Barcelona.
Ewan, proud owner of the Nokia N85, has decided to do a direct comparison of his phone with the new N86 8MP, widely leaked as originally intended on being the N85 8MP. What are the essential differences between the two devices, how significant are they, and were Nokia right to go with the new model number? Ewan says 'Yes', and Rafe agrees, in a special editorial postscript, although their reasons for agreeing are somewhat different - as you'll see.
Over the last six months on All About Symbian in my 'Camera Nitty Gritty' series, I've tackled a number of phone camera-related issues head on and tried to draw conclusions, even though they sometimes fly in face of phone marketing. In this article, I provide an index to all the Camera Nitty Gritty articles and also summarise some of the individual article conclusions. Xenon flash, resolution, apertures, branded optics, it's all here and neatly broken down.
Well, this is very late news, but better late than never: There's been an update to the Mobipad application, which allows you to wirelessly control S60 devices through a standard Nintendo Wii controller (particularly useful if you've got your phone connected to a television through TV Out). The new Mobipad 1.2 beta lets you customise all the buttons to your own liking, which should solve the control problems that were experienced by previous Mobipad users. The catch is that you have to make a 5 euro donation to the developers to get the new version (previous donors get the new version free). The old version 1.0 is still free though.
Rafe's still pounding the floor at MWC 2009, of course, but he took time with MIR's Ben Smith yesterday to give his opinions of Nokia's latest camera flagship, the N86 8MP, in great detail. Below the break is the full six minute video interview, enjoy.
With so much news flowing through this front page over the last 72 hours, I thought a brief link summary might be in order. Sony Ericsson went first, with their display of their early prototype 12mp, S60 5th Edition Idou. Then we had Nokia's main keynote, introducing the S60 3rd Edition Nokia E55 and side-sliding E75, plus the Ovi Store. They also quietly dropped the 6710 Navigator and 6720 Classic. Samsung chipped in next with their launch of the Omnia HD, running S60 5th Edition and with 3.7" OLED screen and 8mp camera. Nokia then showed off the new N86 8MP at a breakfast launch, an N85 with significantly reworked camera. LG brought up the rear with their latest, the KT770, an otherwise unremarkable 3rd Edition slider.
Continuing to round up Mobile World Congress 2009, a few links of interest for Wednesday morning. Nokia Messaging just got itself an upgrade, with the return of Access point selection and a better experience for Yahoo! Mail users; well spotted Symbian's William, showing a veritable wall of Samsung Omnia HD phones all waiting to be carted off to AAS for review(!); plus our own Rafe has been busy overnight, see the live link above for his own photos and thoughts on the new phones announced; finally, Rafe was cornered by the chatty MIR team at the show and asked for his thoughts so far.
Slightly different format for the podcast this week as Rafe is in Barcelona. Steve and Ewan pick up the reins to talk about the announcements and products on show at the Mobile World Congress in the AAS Podcast #113. In Monday's recap, they set the scene, talk about the annoncements from Sony Ericsson, and discuss Nokia's Monday morning press conference.
Nokia has now officially announced the N86 8MP, its latest imaging champion, with 'SLR-like optics'. The N86 8MP features an 8 megapixel camera with variable aperture, large sensor and mechanical shutter. The device has plenty of metal detailing, a N96-like kickstand for video watching, AMOLED screen, N-Gage compatibility, 'scratch resistant' glass, GPS, Compass and the usual S60 connectivity specs. More details, photos and high-quality video below, plus hands-on time through the morning.
Forum Nokia has published the official technical specifications of the Nokia E55, Nokia E75, 6710 Navigator and 6720 Classic. Interesting to note that the E55, 6710 and 6720 all have single processors running at 600mhz (as does last week's 5630 XpressMusic) which is a big step up from the 369mhz speed of most previous single processor S60 models. However, the amount of free RAM available for user applications isn't listed for any device.
Not launched from the stage but merely leaked out by press releases were the 6710 Navigator and 6720 Classic. The first features pre-licensed Nokia Maps (of course), a dedicated navigator key, plus a 'touch area for easy zooming'. The 6720 Classic is a candy bar design and its innovation is 'active noise cancellation' for voice calls, a S60 first. Both devices have the usual 5mp camera and S60 spec level, including TV out. More details and photos below.
Possibly the most leaked (not by us, though) Nokia smartphone ever, the E75 finally got official just now after being introduced on stage at MWC, priced at 375 Euros. Billed as the best messaging smartphone ever and a direct descendant of the 9300i, the E75 has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard beneath a standard Eseries frontplate. Official images, videos, comment and details below.
Sony Ericsson has just unveiled 'Idou', a 'concept' Symbian Foundation Platform phone with a 12.1 megapixel camera, Xenon flash and 16:9 aspect ratio, 3.5" touchscreen. The Idou will go on to become a device, but it is considered a concept because it is at an early stage in its development. Sony Ericsson will release more details, and a launch date in the summer. Read on for more details and our first hands-on impressions.
On the Nseries Innovation News Desk, an official blog on Nokia's Nseries.com website, there's a teaser post with a photo taken by a Nokia device. Closer examination reveals that the image is 2448 x 3264 pixels, that's around 8 megapixels, suggesting that Nokia will be releasing a new Nseries device at MWC with an 8 megapixel camera. We'll have to wait until Monday to find out more though.